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WGEA
WGEA is a dual affiliate of MyTV and MyNetworkTV affiliate serving Toledo, OH and it's surrounding areas. Broadcasting on channel 45, WGEA was owned and operated by Journal Media Group. Its studios are located at a shopping center in Maumee at the corner of Reynolds Road and Dussel Drive. Its tower (currently silent) is located on top of the Fifth Third Building (the old OI Building), Downtown Toledo, at Summit and Cherry Streets. WGEA was part of a duopoly in Toledo. Journal Media Group also owns FOX affiliate WIST. On May 19, 2016, Journal Media announced that they've sold the station (thus ending Journal Media's duopoly in Toledo) to Adelphia Communications. Adelphia began making improvements on the station. On July 1, Adelphia announced that WGEA has moved down to channel 45 from channel 43, and they've became a dual affiliate after picking up an affiliation with MyTV. Later on, when Adelphia purchased a share of MyTV, they turned over operation of the station to Clear Channel and made WGEA an O&O (Owned and operated) affiliate of MyTV. History The station was licensed as W43AP on March 23, 1987, with broadcasts commencing in March 1989 from studios and transmitters located at 716 North Westwood Avenue, in west Toledo. W43AP was owned by Marty & Linda Miller of L&M Video Productions. Initially, "HomeTown TV 43" carried a wide variety of locally produced programming including a trivia quiz game show ("Trivia in Toledo" or "TnT", hosted by Jerry Millen); a current affairs and political program ("High Level Views" hosted by Chuck Schmitt); "Neighbor Talk", an interview-driven talk show hosted by general manager Bob Moore, and featuring local guests talking about topics ranging from political issues to hobbies; a nightly auction program featuring products from local merchants and hosted by Douglas Goff; broadcasts of entertainment acts from local fairs and festivals; a weekly autos and boats for sale program called "Wheels, Keels, and Deals" and a spin-off called "Homes for Sale" featuring local real property and hosted by Bob DuParis; a children's series called "Abracadabra" featuring games, activities, and ventriloquism; a variety show hosted by long-time actor and singer Johnny Ginger; local high school football and basketball games (several each week); as well as other specials and series. Despite the fact that TV43 was widely recognized as a pioneer of community-oriented LPTV, W43AP suffered initially in its bid forcable TV carriage as the local cable systems did not generally grant LPTV stations space on their networks. This effectively relegated their signal to being viewed on "second TVs" and in the minority of households that did not subscribe to cable—which meant that getting advertising support was difficult. Exacerbating the difficulties posed by lack of cable carriage, the local newspaper (The Toledo Blade, whose owners, Block Communications, also own the local cable system) refused to publish TV listings for TV43. TV43 bought small ads in the Sunday TV listings booklet, but was not able to list their programming alongside the other stations in the main listing section. This marginalization of TV43 led to not being able to survive the expense of producing dozens of hours of local programming each week, and by 1990 TV43 had dropped the "HomeTown TV43" moniker and affiliated themselves with the Star Television Network. In 1995, when UPN was launched, W43AP ditched the Star Network and became affiliates with UPN and changed their call letters to WGEA. In 2006, L&M Video Productions announced that they sold WGEA to Journal Media for $5 million dollars, which was approved by the FCC in July. Because of the purchase, WGEA became part of a duopoly with WIST. Following the September 2006 UPN shutdown, WGEA became affiliates with MyNetworkTV. New Owners On May 19, 2016, Journal Media announced that they've sold the station (thus ending Journal Media's duopoly in Toledo) to Adelphia Communications. Adelphia began making improvements on the station. On July 1, Adelphia announced that WGEA has moved up to channel 45, and they've became a dual affiliate after picking up an affiliation with MyTV. Later on, when Adelphia purchased a share of MyTV, they turned over operation of the station to Clear Channel and made WGEA an O&O (Owned and operated) affiliate of MyTV. Clear Channel also announced that WGEA will have their own news department. Programming Schedule Category:Channel 45 Category:Toledo Category:Ohio Category:MyNetworkTV affiliated stations Category:MyTV affiliated stations Category:Dual-affiliated stations Category:Former Star Network Affiliate Category:Former UPN affiliates Category:Former independent stations Category:Adelphia Communications Category:Clear Channel Communications Category:Television channels and stations established in 1989